In the Blink of an Eye
by Lothiriel84
Summary: A collection of unrelated one-shots, all written to the same prompt: "In another life". For the Paint It Red February 2013 Monthly Challenge.
1. Spin

**Spin**

Jane was lying on the couch in Lisbon's office, while mentally congratulating himself on buying the comfy piece of furniture some years ago. It was much better than her previous one, and he'd be lying if he said he'd done it only for her sake.

He wanted her to be more comfortable, that was true; but he was the one who spent most hours on it, unobtrusively watching its rightful owner as she struggled with endless stacks of paperwork.

Lisbon was working late once again. He studied the way her hair shadowed her tired face, and wondered what would happen if he dared to tuck a strand of it behind her ear.

Then…

_…he woke up in a dark basement, his heart pounding with a sense of foreboding._

_And there he was, the man he'd chased for almost a decade now. Red John was standing right in front of him, his face half-hidden in shadows._

_The serial killer gave him a creepy smile before stepping aside and revealing a very pale Teresa Lisbon bound to a chair a few feet away from him. A knife blade gleamed in the darkness, and blood gushed from the deep cut in her neck._

_A piercing cry shattered the silence._

_Jane struggled desperately, the rope cutting through his wrists and ankles. But he couldn't free himself, nor tear away his gaze as her body fell limply to the floor._

_He screamed, and screamed, and then…_

…he opened his eyes to find a warm body hugging him for dear life.

"It's okay, Patrick. It was just one of your nightmares."

Teresa smelled of cinnamon and sleep, and he reveled in the feeling of her hands running soothing circles on the small of his back.

A grey light filtered through the curtains of their bedroom window, as a token of the forthcoming dawn. Jane wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in the crook of her neck.

He still felt his head spinning, but right now he just didn't care. Whether that was reality or another of his dreams, he had no intentions of waking up this time.


	2. Inside Out

**Inside Out**

"It's only a TV show, Angie."

"I have a strange foreboding about it. I can't explain… Don't go, Patrick. Please."

"My silly little woman."

He pulls her closer and gives her a quick peck on the lips. She finally surrenders and lays her head against his chest, as both of them slowly drift towards sleep.

xxx

Their blood is sticky like strawberry jam. He calls their names over and over, but they never answer.

_Blink._

_Angela smiles at him over the rim of her teacup when he says he's not going after all._

Charlotte looks like an angel with broken wings, she'll never fly again. Her princess nightgown is torn and stained with her own blood.

_Blink. _

_They go to the beach together that evening, and he doesn't even bother answering his manager's calls. His little girl paddles along the seashore looking for seashells until the sun finally sinks into the ocean._

Strangers eventually remove their bodies and try to comfort him with empty words. He stares into emptiness, waiting for someone to wake him up from this nightmare at long last.

_Blink._

_That night Angela tells him she wants to have another child. He smiles and proceeds to show her how much he agrees with her request._

They lock him inside an empty room, white walls closing around him and he just can't breathe. He bangs his fists again and again, until the walls are smeared with his own blood.

Only then he thinks of drawing another red smiling face, like the one looming above his own bed at home.

_Blink._

_Charlotte pouts when they tell her she's going to have a little brother or sister. They assure her she won't have to share her dolls with her sibling, and that's enough to cheer her up at last._

_She says the little one can have her old teddy bear, before drifting off in order to reassure her toys as well._

xxx

There's a woman talking to him, but he doesn't hear what she says. Reality and dreams are overlapping in his head, and he just can't tell which is which.

He's not even sure he wants to know anyway.


	3. Upside Down

**Upside Down**

It happens when she's tired in the evenings. She's doing the dishes maybe, or has eventually slumped into a chair after tucking those three rascals in bed.

Her eyes close only for a moment, and then she sees _her_.

Teresa has learned to be strong in the past few months, but another little piece of her heart breaks each and every time all the same.

The death of her beloved mother has turned her whole world upside down, and she can't but wish things could go back to how they were prior to that fateful accident.

When her father hadn't taken up drinking yet. When she was just like any other girl of her age, instead of a surrogate mom to her younger brothers.

However, when she closes her eyes she feels like her mother is still there. Feels her comforting presence, and that's enough to give her strength, to make her carry on just a little bit longer.

For a brief moment her life shifts once more, and everything makes sense again, if only for a while. Her mother will always be with her, hidden behind the curtain of her own eyelids.

It has to be enough.


End file.
